Manager Joe Maddon hopes tensions won’t resurface this weekend when the Cubs face the Pirates less than two weeks after the teams’ sliding interference controversy.

“I found a little bit of it humorous,” Maddon said. “I would hope (it’s not resurrected).”

What’s not funny is the manner in which the Cubs have needed to wiggle Tyler Chatwood out of trouble, especially with four important series looming against the Pirates, Brewers, Cardinals and Dodgers with only one day off to massage a spent bullpen.

The Cubs survived seven walks in 4 2/3 innings from Chatwood on Thursday at Wrigley Field in a 4-3 victory over the Phillies that moved them to within one-half game of the idle Brewers in the National League Central.

With injured starter Yu Darvish yet to throw a bullpen session, the Cubs must rely more on left-hander Mike Montgomery, who faces the Pirates on Friday at home.

Meanwhile, the Cubs must deal with Chatwood’s struggles trying to overcome his wildness.

“Obviously, I walked way too many guys but it’s a step in the right direction even though it didn’t look like it,” said Chatwood, who worked exclusively out of the stretch for the second consecutive start but walked at least five for the eighth time. He now has walked 56 batters in 58 1/3 innings.

Some of his misses made his strike to pitch rate (58 to 107) look worse. Chatwood nearly hit Aaron Altherr in the head on a 3-2 pitch in the third, missed high and tight to opposing pitcher Nick Pivetta on a 2-1 pitch before walking him with two outs and no one on base in the fourth, sailed a 1-1 pitch past Scott Kingery and bounced a delivery two pitches later before Kingery grounded out in the fifth.

“We have two options,” Maddon said. “Let him keep working on it or not. We’re going to let him keep working on it.”

Photos from the Cubs-Phillies game at Wrigley Field on Thursday, June 7, 2018.

Maddon thought Chatwood’s delivery looked cleaner, but he still summoned for Brian Duensing to make his 28th appearance with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, and was rewarded when Duensing induced pinch-hitter Maikel Franco to pop to short.

“It’s the residue of winning, which is a good thing,” Maddon said. ”But you would like the starters to get deeper in the game and cut back on their usage.”

Because of their workload, Maddon hopes to avoid using Cishek, Wilson and Morrow in Friday’s series opener.

Fortunately for the Cubs, Montgomery has pitched efficiently in each of his two starts since replacing Darvish (who played catch for the third time this week since going on the disabled list) and could extend his next outing to 90 to 100 pitches.

The Cubs remain adamant Montgomery, who prefers to start, likely will return to the bullpen when Darvish returns, possibly by the end of June.

But Chatwood’s wildness and subsequent short outings could press them into a situation where Montgomery might be needed to stay in the rotation before a July 21 doubleheader against the Cardinals.

“(Montgomery) has been throwing strikes with his fastball,” Maddon said. “That box is checked, and that’s the biggest difference. His changeup has been great off of that, and he has been throwing his curve for strikes when he wants to. But it comes down to fastball command. Without that, the other pitches aren’t as effective. That’s the way the world works.

“Of course he wants to seize his opportunity to (start), of course he does. But he also knows when everyone is well what’s going to happen then. He has been pragmatic. He looks at it the right way. He’s doing all those things well.”